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What Does the Future Hold for Social Media?

A quick answer, bleak though it may be, would be found in
flicking on an episode of Charlie Brooker’s BlackMirror, which, like the silent, stilled screen of a dormant T.V, reflects
our world warped and darkened, animating the distorted and disturbed.

The most common aspect of our predicted digital future seems
to be the immersion of mind and tech, so it seems Charlie Brooker may not have
been too far off, with much of his writing exploring the ethical issues
surrounding the shift from smart phone to cyborg. This view is echoed by NPR Digital Strategist
and Editor at NPR, Melody Kramer who writes:

“I’m pretty sure every time
Apple’s designers want to come up with a new product, they go into a room and
watch Inspector Gadget…Gadget’s real skill came from his endless collection of
wearables…That’s largely how I envision social media in the future. It will
become part of the fabric of our clothes, part of the glasses we wear and the
shoes we put on, and the gadgets we no longer see as gadgets but as part of our
very selves. Social will measure, but sharing will become more passive in the
process; it won’t require any effort on our part to share any part of our lives. I say this knowing full well that to me this future is absolutely horrifying. It sounds more like an episode of “The Twilight Zone” than one of Inspector Gadget, and I really hope it doesn’t come true. But as gadgets get smaller and we become more comfortable with quantifying more of ourselves, I suspect people like me will fade away, or at least be whispering…”

With the internet giving way to a new world of sociability
and business, everyone is keen to know exactly how best to equip themselves to
prosper in a digital future, rapidly evolving out of sight.

If we keep in mind that only one third of the world’s population
is currently online, the biggest problem social media looks to face is data management.
Already there 46,296 YouTube videos viewed per second, 500 million tweets per day,
1.3 billion active Facebook users, and 60 million photos uploaded to Instagram.
So with organisations, such as internet.org, that seek to connect the untapped
two thirds of the globe, the research into the increase in data over the next
few years, may itself, revolutionise the way we pass information. However, this
data overload is not necessarily a problem, as explained by Director of Simply
Measured Otis Kimzey who argues that:

“The most dramatic change by 2039
will not only be the amount of data that will be available to everyone but also
the decision-making power of that data. We currently have thermostats that
learn our preferences, watches that take our pulse, and Nike even knows how
often and how fast we run, and this is just the beginning.With this much data, personalized
content will become the norm. I love unfiltered feeds, but in the future, when
the depth of data available meets the ability to make decisions based off of
that data, the result will be a very individualized and powerful experience.
People will be able to get the content they want, at the time they want, from
the people and brands they want, perhaps even on their projector watch or
contact lens.”

Born in the age of the dawning internet, we still view it as
its own entity, and rightly so…technically. However, we can now see how deeply
ingrained the internet has become in city life, it works behind the scenes
leading us to take more notice of its absence than its presence. In generations
to come, it will be the norm to be connected, so much so that the everyday
person may not even question where it is that there connection comes from, or
what it connects to. Much like electricity nowadays, of course a few school
science lessons have explained the basics, but more and more we take for
granted how are things are powered, pushing electricity behind the scenes,
expected, and sometimes not appreciated. This is a school of thought
demonstrated in the writing of Sarah Green, Harvard Business Review, Senior
Associate Editor and Host of HBR Ideacast, who explains:

“My bet is that social will be
less about standalone apps and websites and more about the “piping” of the
Internet. In the future the Internet will operate more like electricity does
today, as an unseen part of the infrastructure around us that we notice only
when it’s not present. This will put more pressure on advertisers, marketers,
and big thinkers to spread their messages in a genuinely interesting and useful
way, since they’ll be less able to rely on interruptive display ads to get
people’s attention.”

Going into the future our knowledge of the internet will
snowball, leaving us an even broader arsenal of things to tinker with, sparking a
paradigm shift from “what can the internet do?” to “What should we do with it?”

This question is already being answered on a global scale,
by social commentators, scientists, and authors, however none know how the
human race will react to such drastic changes, only time will tell. It’s an
interesting time to be living, on the precipice of global transformation. We will
have the privilege of being a part of a generation who will die in world so absurdly
different to the one we were born into, and we may even be the last to experience
the beauty of both.

About Social Songbird

Keeping you up to date on social media, digital marketing, apps, news & reviews.
Social media, and digital marketing as a whole, are rapidly and constantly changing, adapting to new developments at an ever increasing rate. Just keeping up to date can be a nightmare.
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Meet The Team

Sam Bonson - Editor/Content Writer

Sam is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers. Currently working as Editor of Social Songbird, he hopes to one day drop that 'aspiring' prefix. Follow him @Songbird_Sam

Mili Ponce - Executive Editor

Mili Ponce is a recognised international Digital Marketing strategist and keynote speaker.
Known in the UK as the Twitter Queen for the last 9 years, she was the first one, to write and speak in conference about how to create an online business and promote any products and services by using Twitter.
She gives training and consultancy to Corporate Companies, Government Organizations, Marketing Managers, Business Owners and Individuals @miliponceuk

Sarah Cousins - Contributor

I write about ideas. My background is in strategic marketing, PR, social media and project management, my future is in ideas. I’m professionally qualified with the Chartered Institute of Marketing, holding a postgraduate diploma in strategic marketing. After working for the BBC I spent a lot of time in the education sector. I’ve flirted with freelance work and consultancy but the BIG thing I’ve noticed is that people want practical results (ridiculously fast). I help boutique business owners and online entrepreneurs. One powerful idea can change your world, last a lifetime or even create a legacy. You can find me on Twitter @The_Ideas_Girl

Victoria Greene - Contributor

Victoria Greene is an e-commerce marketing expert and freelance writer who derives an unusual level of enjoyment from browsing supermarkets. You can read more of her work at her blog Victoria Ecommerce